Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

[ambrose]

Is it better to pull tubes using my wake tower or the "I" hook on the back of the boat?
Tower looks to be alot stronger?

 

[Dave.Mishchenko]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

The hook on the transom will likely be better reinforced than the mount points for the tower, so it would be the ideal location. Some tower manufactors will specifically state that you shouldn't tow a tube from their tower, so you would probably want to check with them. Here's a thread with a similar discussion - http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=326773. In general you'll probably be OK to use the tower, but the tube wiping around or submerging can put a lot of strain on a tower making the transom hook a better option.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

Is it better to pull tubes using my wake tower or the "I" hook on the back of the boat?
Tower looks to be alot stronger?

In the game of flipping a boat, it is all about leverage. The wake board tower has a lot more leverage on the boat, and you woud generally be carrying more weight with a tube than with a wakeboarder . . . soooo, you could flip the boat by using the tower for a tube, depending on the size of the boat, etc.

 

[Augoose]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

I've seen this topic come up a lot and the answer I always read was NO, do not pull the tube with your tower. Arguments have been made as to whether or not a wakeboarder creates more strain on the tower than a tube and I'm not sure where I stand on that, but better to be safe than sorry. I'd use the ski eye in on the transom!

 

[mikeybz]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

It all depends on what your going to be doing with the tube . If your going to be pulling kids i would use the i hook . Using the tower will make the tube easier to become air born and the tub to roll over . Now if your pulling a kite tube it makes it alot easier to get air born and adds a couple of extra feet to your flight hieght .

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

No way on using the tower, or a pylon for that matter - for the same reasons you never use a ski rope to attach a tube. A tube can exert more pressure on the mounting point than a skier or wakeboarder and start breaking stuff.

 

[Augoose]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

... for the same reasons you never use a ski rope to attach a tube...

Whooops....been doing that for years

However, I'm 205 lbs and when I slalom I pull the back of the 20' bow rider side to side. Never seen that happen with a tube - is it really that much strain?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

Whooops....been doing that for years

However, I'm 205 lbs and when I slalom I pull the back of the 20' bow rider side to side. Never seen that happen with a tube - is it really that much strain?

The tube doesn't pull the boat side to side, but it creates a lot of drag. My mother inlaw took 1/2 a rope to the back of the head one day when they decided to use a perfectly good ski rope on their tube. There is a reason they sell tube ropes - take a look at the size difference some time.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

Whooops....been doing that for years

However, I'm 205 lbs and when I slalom I pull the back of the 20' bow rider side to side. Never seen that happen with a tube - is it really that much strain?

A tube under NORMAL conditions won't pull more than a big guy on a slalom ski. No question about that. The problem is when the tube gets airborne, tosses its occupants, and then lands upside down. Some tubes will become instant water anchors, and can snap almost any rope you attach them to the boat with. We are talking thousands of pounds of force in an instant. No skier could do that and still have their arms in their arm sockets.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

A tube under NORMAL conditions won't pull more than a big guy on a slalom ski. No question about that. The problem is when the tube gets airborne, tosses its occupants, and then lands upside down. Some tubes will become instant water anchors, and can snap almost any rope you attach them to the boat with. We are talking thousands of pounds of force in an instant. No skier could do that and still have their arms in their arm sockets.

Yes, it is really about that one awkward moment where the boat is 'zigging' and the tube is 'zagging' that you run the risk of filling a boat, depending on the size of the boat, or course. So, why risk it?

When I was a kid, I remember seeing a slalom skier flip a soft chimed boat . . . talk about a surprise . . . no more boating that day.

 

[2ndtry]

Re: Pulling Tubes using my wake tower.

Hasn't been mentioned, but the real issue with a tube is submarining. when the tube goes under, it puts tremendous strain on the rope and whatever it is attached too. When a skier/wakeboarder falls, he lets go of the rope. The tube cant. I bent a 2" diameter pylon when a 72" tube submarined at a fairly low speed.